Religion, Populism, and Modernity - (Contending Modernities) by Atalia Omer & Joshua Lupo (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

In this timely book, an interdisciplinary group of scholars investigates the recent resurfacing of White Christian nationalism and racism in populist movements across the globe.

Religion, Populism, and Modernity examines the recent rise of White Christian nationalism in Europe and the United States, focusing on how right-wing populist leaders and groups have mobilized racist and xenophobic rhetoric in their bids for political power. As the contributors to this volume show, this mobilization is deeply rooted in the broader structures of western modernity and as such requires an intersectional analysis that considers race, gender, ethnicity, nationalism, and religion together. The contributors explore a number of case studies, including White nationalism in the United States among both evangelicals and Catholics, anti- and philosemitism in Poland, the Far Right party Alternative for Germany, Islamophobia in Norway and France, and the entanglement of climate change opposition in right-wing parties throughout Europe. By extending the scope of these essays beyond Trump and Brexit, the contributors remind us that these two events are not exceptions to the rule of the normal functioning of liberal democracies. Rather, they are in fact but recent examples of long-standing trends in Europe and the United States. As the editors to the volume contend, confronting these issues requires that we not only unearth their historical precedents but also imagine futures that point to new ways of being beyond them.

Contributors: Atalia Omer, Joshua Lupo, Philip Gorski, Jason A. Springs, R. Scott Appleby, Richard Amesbury, Geneviève Zubrzycki, Yolande Jansen, Jasmijn Leeuwenkamp, Sindre Bangstad, and Ebrahim Moosa.

Review Quotes

"The Right is back and here to stay. Those of us who oppose its ambitions need to learn how to confront it effectively. In this vital task, volumes like Religion, Populism, and Modernity are to be welcomed." --Journal of Church and State

"Scholars who are interested in the linkages between religion and far right politics . . . will find the book provocative." --Choice

"[T]his volume is essential for scholars and students of religious studies and public policy seeking additional context that informs the seemingly unprecedented times in which we live, theorize, and work." --The Journal of Interreligious Studies

"A useful collection of chapters by a group of very accomplished scholars. Each presents an authoritative account of their topic." -- Party Politics

"This audacious volume offers an original and multisited perspective into the entanglements between whiteness, populism, Christianity, nationalism and secularism. By weaving threads throughout phenomena as diverse as Trumpism in the US, philosemitism in Poland or the far-right resistance to the ecological crisis, it compels us to critically address how race and coloniality are reenacted in complex and unexpected ways." --Nadia Fadil, author of Tegen Radicalisering

"Religion, Populism, and Modernity offers a multidisciplinary and contextually rich comparative study that moves the conversation beyond a priori assumptions and equips the reader with insights for better understanding the complexities that create and sustain White Christian nationalisms today." --John A. Rees, author of Religion in International Politics and Development

"At once granular and general, this thought-provoking compilation explores how the logic of White Christian nationalism operates in American and European politics today, sometimes hidden and sometimes hidden in plain sight. All too often, scholars of religion shy away from asking and answering normative questions--here they don't." --Ulrich Schmiedel, author of Terror und Theologie

About the Author

Atalia Omer is professor of religion, conflict, and peace studies at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies and the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame. She is the author of Days of Awe and co-editor of Religion and Broken Solidarities (University of Notre Dame Press, 2022).

Joshua Lupo is assistant director of the Contending Modernities research initiative at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame. He is the co-editor of Religion and Broken Solidarities (University of Notre Dame Press, 2022).